Pages

Tuesday, 19 August 2014

Cognac Chicken

This Cognac Chicken is adapted from a Dorie
Greenspan recipe.It is easy to do –
particularly since once the casserole is in the oven you have to leave it
undisturbed for over an hour.

You need a
casserole dish which can snugly fit a whole chicken plus some vegetables around
it.This meant that I bought a smaller
chicken than usual.

Preheat
your oven to pretty much full whack.

While it is
heating, truss up your chicken and rub it with salt and white pepper.

Put your
casserole dish onto the hob and put a thin layer of oil on the bottom – I used
olive oil with a teeny bit of garlic infused olive oil.

Toss your
vegetables around in the oil to coat them.For the vegetables I had 6 or so little potatoes (skin on), 2 small
onions (shallots) and a carrot which I sliced on the diagonal.Add salt and pepper.

Stir in
your herbs – fresh thyme, rosemary and a bay leaf.

Push your
vegetables towards the sides and pop your chicken in the middle.

Pour ½ cup
of cognac (or brandy) around the
chicken.Leave it on the hob for a
minute so the cognac warms up.

Put the lid
on your casserole – make sure it is tight fitting or add a layer of foil.

Leave it in
the oven for a minimum of an hour.I had
mine in for 1 hour 20 and feel that it could even have benefitted from another
10 minutes or so.

When you
are satisfied that the chicken is cooked, put it and the vegetables into a warm
bowl covered with foil while you finish the sauce.

The sauce
is not thickened at all.You just skim
the fat off the top – or at least as much of it as you can be bothered.Add a cup of water and boil it away while
stirring now and again until it has reduced a bit.And that's it.